In 2019, the Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prakash Javedkar revealed in parliament that Bhogdoi river was one of the most polluted rivers in Assam and among the 351 polluted rivers in India.
The River Bhogdoi flows from Mokokchung district into Mariani.
The Assam public health and engineering department has indicated that coal mining in Nagaland may be the cause of high levels of manganese in the Bhogdoi river, which flows down from the Naga Hills
In a letter to the state urban water supply department here, PHED stated that the water of the river, which had turned acidic and had high manganese content probably due to coal mining in Nagaland, should be decontaminated prior to being supplied to the town areas, Northeast Now news portal reported.
About 10 days ago people had complained that the water felt sticky, tasted bitter when tea was brewed and dead fishes were seen floating in the waters.
The matter came to a head when Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi raised the issue, sending an SOS to the government to stop the illegal coal mining in Nagaland as it polluted the water of the Bhogdoi, the report said.
In a Facebook post, Rupjyoti Kurmi said: “An earnest appeal to Govt. of Assam to send an Emergency Team along with a chemist to check the Bhogdoi river water and save the people of Mariani as Laboratory report reveals increase of ‘Manganese’ and decrease of ‘pH value’ in the river water,on which many people are dependant. #SaveBhogdoiSaveMariani.”